Academic Standing updates

Based on college feedback, the Academic Standing run dates have changed slightly for fall 2015, spring 2016, and summer 2016. They are:

• Fall 2015: 1/1/2016-1/7/2016
• Spring 2016: 5/20/2016-5/26/2016
• Summer 2016: 8/26/2016-9/1/2016 (Disbursement of financial aid begins Aug. 29; these dates have been coordinated with the Office of the Registrar and Office of Student Finance, who don't anticipate any issues for students.)

The final Academic Standing run of summer 2015 will be Thursday, December 31. The full schedule can be found on the One Stop website.

FERPA: What should I do if I accidentally share a student’s private information with another student?

Unfortunately, even when we are careful, privacy breaches happen. For example, mis-typing a student’s email address can result in inadvertently sharing private data. If this happens, you should email abuse@umn.edu to report the incident. For more information, see the Information Security policy.

Grade entry best practices

As a reminder, fall 2015 grades (full semester and second 7-week session) are due on Wednesday, December 30 (see the complete list of grading due dates). Grades should be entered online by 11:59 p.m. on the date that they are due.

Verify access to grade rosters
Faculty, instructors, and their proxies should verify that they have access to all of their assigned grade rosters before the last day of instruction. To do this, access your Faculty Center in the MyU: Teaching tab and view the Grade Rosters for the classes you teach. When grade rosters are created (generally about twelve days before the last day of the term), those with access will see an icon that looks like a person inside a square next to the class in Faculty Center. Click that icon to view the roster. If you do not see the grade rosters you expect, please contact your department scheduler.

Class rosters and grade entry for courses owned by the School of Public Health are available only through the School of Public Health grading system. Faculty within the Medical School and the Law School typically do not access their grade rosters electronically and should contact their administrative support if they have questions.

Uploading grades directly from Moodle
Final grades entered in Moodle can be transferred directly into the grade roster within the Faculty Center. This guide to uploading gradebooks from Moodle to the final grade roster in PeopleSoft outlines the process. Those using this option should make sure that the final grade roster has been created prior to uploading from Moodle. It is important to note that once the grades have been transferred, they still must be reviewed and approved in Faculty Center.

New “NR” grade replacing grades that are left blank
Once the grading deadline has passed, NR (Not Reported), will be given to students who are not assigned a grade by their instructor. The NR will be treated like a blank grade was in the previous system (e.g., zero grade points, zero credits).

Additional resources available on One Stop Faculty website
How-to guides on entering grades, making changes to grades, and more are available in the Grades section of the One Stop Faculty website. Grading due dates, frequently asked questions, and grading and transcript policies are also available.

Tech tips

• A good first step for those encountering difficulties is to clear their browser’s cache.
• Browser type and version can affect grade entry. Those having trouble should try updating their browser or using another one. 
• Grade entry will work on mobile browsers (e.g., phones, tablets). Some pages have been designed to respond to multiple screen sizes, and some have not. Non-responsive pages should still function, but may be less aesthetically pleasing and could present anomalies. 

Fall 2015 final exams

Final exams are quickly approaching. Please remind students to bring their U Card with them to their final exams; buildings may be locked. The full final exam schedule can be found on the One Stop website.

Auto-enroll waitlist process for spring 2016

The auto-enroll waitlist process for the Twin Cities campus began Monday, November 23 (a previous message said November 22) and will run through the first day of the session. Students can add themselves to a waitlist through the first day of the session.

If you encounter any issues with waitlisting or the auto-enroll process, please contact the ASR Training & Support Team at srhelp@umn.edu. More information on how students can add themselves to a waitlist can be found in this guide.

FERPA: May a faculty member include a student’s grade in an email if the email is sent to multiple students?

Suppose a faculty member needs to communicate midterm grade information to two of her students, Mary and Bob. The faculty sends an email, with both students email addresses on the “to” line, and in the body of the message gives information about Mary’s grade and Bob’s grade. This would violate FERPA because it discloses private student data. Faculty and staff should take care to only include private student data in an email when the recipients are allowed to view that information. Incidents such as these can be referred to abuse@umn.edu.

Policy update (October 2015)

Updates to the Promoting Timely Graduation policy passed the Senate Committee on Educational Policy (SCEP) at the committee’s October meeting. Next, the Policy Advisory Committee (PAC) will consider the updated policy. The intention is for the policy to be retitled and to include updated language to better support students’ timely progress to degree. If passed, the policy will also replace the Declaring and Pursuing an Undergraduate Major policy.

Spring 2016 registration

Students will have access to their spring 2016 registration queue time starting November 2. The spring 2016 registration time table can be found on the One Stop website. As a reminder, spring 2016 registration begins Tuesday, November 10 for students admitted to degree and certificate programs. Open registration begins Friday, December 4. One Stop and the Academic Support Resources Training and Support team will be hosting refresher sessions on the student registration experience on:

• Thursday, November 5, 2015 from 2 to 3 p.m. in Peik Gym, room G55
• Wednesday, November 11, 2015 from 2 to 3 p.m. in Alderman Hall, room 415 (St. Paul campus)
• Tuesday, November 17, 2015 from 10 to 11 a.m. in Peik Gym, room G65

These sessions will be of interest to advisers and student services staff who would like to review how the registration process works for students. Topics will include class search, waitlists, auto-enroll, and the shopping cart. There will be time for questions as well.

Please complete this short form is you are planning on attending one of these sessions.

You are invited to the 9th annual Student Veterans Appreciation Day

Join us for the 9th annual Student Veterans Appreciation Event on Tuesday, November 17 from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. in Coffman Great Hall. Say “thank you” to student veterans, participate in some games, and grab a slice of pizza. Everyone is welcome! Can’t make it? Stop by our booth to write a thank-you message to our veterans. Dates and locations are available on the One Stop website.

Office of the Registrar's St. Paul staff moving to Williamson Hall

The St. Paul Office of the Registrar staff will be moving to Williamson Hall between November 19-20, 2015. The move will allow the staff to be closer to their colleagues and create more opportunities for integration and cross-training across the OTR units.

Academic Support Resources technical projects updates

ASR has created a resource for the U of M community to track planned, in-progress and completed projects that our technical staff are or were working on. This information is being compiled on the new ASR Technical Project Updates webpage. These projects largely address issues that our users have identified related to their work with the Office of the Registrar, the Office of Student Finance and the Office of Financial Aid.

New Schedule Builder available

A new version of Schedule Builder is now available. Under the new version of Schedule Builder, students will have the option to explore, plan, and see a calendar view of their schedules. With the start of spring 2016 registration quickly approaching, we anticipate this new version of Schedule Builder to be highly accessed and we encourage you to notify your students, faculty, and other staff members about this change. If you have any questions, please contact help@umn.edu.

New location for Graduate Student Services & Progress starting November 9

On November 9, the Graduate Student Services and Progress (GSSP) office currently located in 160 Williamson Hall will move to the One Stop Student Services center in Bruininks Hall. Graduate and professional students and others who need to speak with GSSP staff in-person should visit the One Stop in Bruininks Hall for assistance. All phone and email information for GSSP will remain the same. The GSSP office in 160 Williamson Hall will have limited service (no walk-in service; available via email and phone) after Wednesday, November 4 for the move and re-open with full service in its new location on November 9. You may continue to contact GSSP at 612-625-3490 or gssp@umn.edu.

FERPA: How should we work with parents that want to help their child with a disability transition to the University of Minnesota from another college or university?

Since this student is not yet accepted to or enrolled at the University, he or she does not have the ability to give his or her parents access via the University's online tools. In these instances, it is appropriate to work with the student to send or fax a signed letter stating that he or she grants your office permission to speak with the parents about the student's process, educational record, outstanding requirements, etc. Unless the student has an activated University of Minnesota email address, you cannot accept an email from the student granting this permission. And, simply because the student has a disability doesn't mean that FERPA doesn't apply nor can you work with the parents without the students express written permission to do so.

New report available: My Advisees (Midterm Grades)

A new PeopleSoft query report is now available by going to MyU > Reporting Center > Student Services > Advising > My Advisees - Midterm grades. Here, you can find your advisees with midterm grades for the selected term and midterm grade.

Mid Term Alerts in the new system (now, In-Progress Notifications)

University Senate Policy requires instructors of 1xxx-level courses to provide in-progress notifications to students who, based on performance in the course thus far, appear to be in danger of receiving a grade of D, F, or N. The process for doing this has changed with the University’s PeopleSoft Upgrade, and the former mid-term alerts system has been retired. The new process was made available on October 1, 2015 and takes place in the “Grade Rosters” tab of MyU’s Faculty Center. The ASR Student Records Training & Support team has created a “Mid-Term Grade Entry” quick start guide to help instructors.

Registrar's Advisory Committee meeting on October 5

The next Registrar's Advisory Committee (RAC) meeting will be held on Monday, October 5 from 9:30 a.m.-12 p.m. in Humphrey, room 50B. The agenda can be found here.

Destiny One Registration System update

The Destiny One Registration System (DORS) is live and the rollout continues across the University community. There has been $395,000 in registration revenue with 1,423 enrollments in 107 different courses and 179 sections.There are currently nine units live in production with 12 more testing and soon to be live. There have been more than 200 users trained in the system and the interest keeps growing. Duluth will be the first system campus to utilize the Destiny One Registration System.

One Stop Student Services and ASR Training & Support team begins with a busy start of the term

One Stop's fall traffic has been feeling the effects of Upgrade-related changes in business processes and the system's early-term problems. Within the week prior and the first week of classes there were 6,058 calls answered, 6,566 walk-ins, and 6,677 emails sent to customers. Overall, this is approximately a 15% increase in traffic from last year at the start of the term.

Similarly, the ASR Training & Support team continues to be busy with regular and Upgrade-related questions. During the week of September 8th, they fielded 214 questions from University staff and faculty, which is double the volume for the first week of term pre-Upgrade.

Office of Student Finance director job posted

The search for a new Office of Student Finance director is underway with the job officially posted to the UMN employment/job openings page. Current UMN employees can view the posting through the Employment/Job Openings resource in the Employee Center of MyU, or by clicking here. We encourage you to share the posting with qualified, external applicants by having them visit the UMN Employment Opportunities page and search for Director, Office of Student Finance, or by job ID 304869.

New location for Graduate Student Services & Progress starting November 9

On November 9, the Graduate Student Services and Progress (GSSP) office currently located in 160 Williamson Hall will move to the One Stop Student Services center in Bruininks Hall. Graduate and professional students and others who need to speak with GSSP staff in-person should visit the One Stop in Bruininks Hall for assistance. All phone and email information for GSSP will remain the same. Further details about when the location in Williamson 160 will officially close are forthcoming.

FERPA: You are hosting a scholarship lunch for scholarship recipients, can you publicly display their personal statements and photos at the event?

Like any other non-public student data, you need the student’s written permission prior to displaying their photo and other information at the event. It is important when you get permission, you explain to students that their information will be available to all who are attending.

Academic Standing will not post until August 27

The Office of the Registrar recently learned that no calculations will post on students' records until August 27, 2015 -- after the fully graded due date. This information has been updated on the Probation/Suspension Schedule. The Office of Student Finance understands that this will present a tight turnaround for the fall term financial aid disbursements on August 31, 2015, and will work with colleges to minimize any negative impacts for students.

How-To Guides for students learning the new system

For staff who work with students, a reminder that the How-to Guides posted on the One Stop website are a great resource for guiding students and staff about processes in the new system. View the guides »

Changes to SAP policy

Beginning with fall semester grades (so effective for Spring 2016 disbursement), all students receiving financial aid (federal, state or University aid) will be required to meet satisfactory academic progress (SAP) standards to continue receiving financial assistance. Previously, students who only received University scholarships were not included in the financial aid SAP review.

New payment plan process

What used to be called the “installment plan” is now called the “payment plan.” The difference? Students must opt-in through MyU if they would like to use it and a one-time $20 fee is added to their first payment. In the past, qualifying students were automatically added to the installment plan if they did not pay their bill in full by the first due date. Students who do not opt in to the payment plan and who do not pay their bill in full by the due date will be assessed a $40 late payment fee. More information and step-by-step instructions on enrolling in the payment plan will be sent to students who have used the installment plan in the past. Students will need to enroll in the payment plan every semester in which they want to use it.

Verification for Financial Aid

Undergraduate students who have a FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) on file, may be selected for verification. This is a federally mandated process to check the accuracy of the data reported on the FAFSA. A record may be selected for verification if data on the FAFSA seems out of proportion to other figures or selection may be random. If students are selected for verification, they must provide documentation including a verification form (provided by the University), tax documents, and other data the institution may request including W-2 forms.

Verification must be completed before financial aid will be disbursed. Please remind any of your students who have been selected for verification to provide the information as soon as possible.

Change in One Stop phone queue

One Stop Student Services recently made a change in their phone queue options. Any financial aid questions will be directed to press 1 and will be routed to One Stop Counselors. General questions about dates and deadlines, etc., will be directed to press 2 and will be routed to Customer Relations Representatives. As the phone options have changed, please encourage your students to listen to the entire voice message when calling One Stop.

Soliciting feedback for Graduate Education Degree Clearance

Graduate Student Services & Progress (GSSP) is currently reevaluating the process for Graduate Education Degree Clearance. If you have suggestions for how to improve this process, please email Chris Allen at alle0288@umn.edu.

Continuous enrollment for graduate and professional students

All Twin Cities and Duluth post-baccalaureate students enrolled in a graduate or departmental master’s program (excluding Twin Cities MBA students) that have not registered for fall 2015 term received an email the week of August 24 indicating they must register by Monday, September 21, or they will be discontinued.

Program staff who have students requesting permission for GRAD 999, xxxx-8777, xxxx-8666 and xxxx-8888 may issue the necessary permission provided students have met internal eligibility requirements. Students requesting permission for xxxx-8333 and xxxx-8444 should be directed to the Graduate Student Services office at gssp@umn.edu.

If a student is discontinued and wishes to resume graduate work, he or she must request readmission to reactivate his or her status. It is up to the program or college to determine the best readmission path for a student. In all cases, students should contact the major program for which they are applying.

FERPA: House unveils bipartisan bill to update FERPA

House education lawmakers introduced legislation to update student privacy protections under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Academic Support Resources (ASR) will keep the campus community apprised as this progresses.

Registrar’s Advisory Committee meeting on Monday

The next Registrar’s Advisory Committee (RAC) meeting will be held on Monday, August 3 from 9:30 a.m.-12 p.m. in 412 Bruininks Hall. To view the full agenda, please click here. Please RSVP.

2015-16 MN tuition reciprocity rates released

We have received the 2015-2016 tuition reciprocity rates for the University of Minnesota campuses from the MN Higher Education Office. Of note this year, all reciprocity students from Wisconsin should now be charged the higher of the Minnesota or Wisconsin resident rate for the level, program and campus attended. The State of Wisconsin will no longer offer these students a tuition supplement to bridge the gap between the higher Minnesota rates and the Wisconsin rates, since that feature expired at the end of the 2014-2015 academic year.

2015-16 tuition and fees are now live on One Stop website

The 2015-16 tuition and fees fact sheets are now available on the One Stop website.

• Undergraduate
• Graduate

Astra Schedule upgrade completed

The much anticipated Astra Schedule software upgrade was completed this week. This upgrade did not impact PeopleSoft/CCS. The UMN Astra system maintenance team has been working closely with Ad Astra developers to ensure a smooth upgrade and to ensure UMN business processes will be accommodated in the upgrade. One of the benefits of the upgrade is the improved performance speeds of the calendars.

8xxxxxx ID numbers now being issued

Historically, University of Minnesota identification numbers were assigned sequentially as new numbers are needed by staff, faculty and students. However, ID numbers are currently being issued starting from 8xxxxxx for new employees. Colleges and staff may start seeing these numbers more frequently, they can be trusted and treated the same as other U of M identification numbers.

One Stop implements Salesforce knowledge base FAQ software

One Stop launched its new knowledge base FAQ software through Salesforce. The software will help counselors and other staff access and contribute important information in one shared resource for students, streamlining workflows and improving response. For a few weeks, the software will go through a soft launch while users watch for bugs and monitor student behavior. When all articles are published and things prove to be working well, One Stop will begin to bring more focus through their current home and contact us pages, eventually linking to the knowledge base in MyU. The knowledge base can be found by going to onestop.umn.edu and clicking on Ask One Stop at the bottom of the page. This site is still in transition, more articles will be added on an ongoing basis.

GSSP seeing success in customer service model

Since adopting a new customer service model utilizing Salesforce, an Auto-Caller Distribution (ACD) phone line, and five new Customer Relations Representatives in the fall of 2014, the Graduate Student Services and Progress (GSSP) office has been able to make a positive difference in students’ lives by improving form tracking, maintaining response times by using Salesforce statistics for proactive scheduling and project prioritization, and keeping better customer interaction records to investigate and resolve errors. The new model has helped to spread out work more equitably and allows the team to provide better back-up coverage during meetings and absences. The tiered model has also added value to student interactions by providing faster responses for general questions and added context for questions that are routed to the second tier of support. GSSP will continue to utilize statistics and trends from Salesforce data to inform process improvements that will ultimately benefit students, faculty, and staff.

FERPA: If a student's parents are divorced can both of them have access to student information?

FERPA treats custodial and non-custodial parents the same. If the custodial parent is granted access to non-directory information about a student, the non-custodial parent can also be granted access to that information.

SELF Loan limit increasing

The annual SELF Loan limits will increase on July 1, 2015; students will now be able to borrow up to $20,000 for Undergraduate and Graduate Programs. Online applications started July 1 or later will be eligible for the higher loan limits. Students that applied for a SELF loan prior to July 1, 2015 may submit a second application for an additional amount.

Students will receive electronic Financial Aid Award Notices (eFAAN) soon

Office of Student Finance staff are currently working on putting together financial aid award packages for students. Medical students should receive their eFAAN sometime during the first week in July. Award packages will be sent to other students in mid to late July.

New online scholarship application available system-wide

Approximately 1,500 students have used the new online scholarship application to apply for scholarships. Students no longer need to apply separately for different departmental scholarships as long as the departments offering the scholarships utilize the online scholarship application. The new scholarship application makes things more efficient and consistent for students, administrators, committee members, and others needing to provide or access scholarship information. For more information on the online scholarship application, please contact the scholarship unit at saosf@umn.edu.

Issue with ECAS course description character limit

Some users are finding that when entering course information into ECAS, the description box states a maximum character limit of 4,000, when in fact, it is only allowing 1,100 characters. Technicians are working on fixing this issue, but in the meantime, please limit your course descriptions to 1,100 characters.

Issue with waitlist function affecting registration

There is an unexpected issue with the waitlist function that is affecting fall registration for approximately 200 classes across all campuses. A workaround has been created that departments can implement if a waitlist has been started but open seats are available for a class. Read more >>

Regents approve tuition increases for next fall

The Board of Regents approved a budget that includes tuition increases of between 1.5 percent and 7 percent. Out-of-state undergraduates will experience a 7 percent increase (around $1,350 yearly) while state resident undergraduates will see an increase of 1.5 percent (around $180 yearly). Resident graduate and professional students will see an increase of 2.5 percent to 3.5 percent. This is the first tuition increase in three years.

Impact of summer courses on Academic Standing

The Office of the Registrar and One Stop Student Services teams have been working with colleges and advisers to increase student awareness about changes to the University's Academic Standing (probation and suspension processes). Typically, colleges will review student records when final grades are submitted at the end of each term to determine whether or not an individual is eligible for addition to or removal from probation or suspension. Starting with the summer 2015, a student's academic performance during summer courses can impact their Academic Standing, and in turn affect their Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) and financial aid eligibility. If a student is on probation and their summer grades result in them being placed on suspension, they risk losing access to fall 2015 courses even if they are already registered. Find out more about the Academic Standing process >>

2015 Staff Resource Guide: New Graduate & Professional International Student

There have been several major changes in the process and support for new international students.
Information in the guide includes:

• International Student Pre-Arrival and Arrival Information
• New International Student Registration
• Course Registration Guidelines: First Semester International Students
• Minnesota English Language Program Credit Courses
• English Language Requirements and Support
• Students with Personal Difficulties and Mental Health Issues
• Articles and Resources 
• Contact Information

The entire guide can be found here.

Appropriate Use agreement required July 1

Wednesday, July 1, all employees will be presented with the University’s Appropriate Use agreement for data reporting when logging into MyU. This is a replacement of the prior annual UM Reports agreement. Employees must acknowledge and agree to the Appropriate Use agreement to have access to the MyU portal.

Reverse Transfer available July 1

The National Student Clearinghouse’s Reverse Transfer service is the first national automated solution for exchanging reverse transfer student data. Through reverse transfer as many as two million eligible students could be awarded associate degrees. The new course credit exchange “highway” will facilitate the awarding of reverse transfer degrees by allowing institutions to exchange data in the same way with all of their partner degree granting institutions via the Clearinghouse. It doesn’t matter if the student transferred to another associate degree granting or bachelor’s level institution first, attending public or private institutions, or transferred across state lines. If eligible, the student is awarded an associate degree. The Reverse Transfer service is free to institutions and students. To learn more, visit the Reverse Transfer website via the National Student Clearinghouse.

Issue with waitlist function affecting registration (minor impact)

There is an unexpected issue with the waitlist function that is affecting fall registration for approximately 200 classes across all campuses:

• For open classes with open seats and a waitlist capacity greater than zero:
• If a student clicks the “Wait list if class is full” box when registering for the class, the student will be added to a waitlist instead of being enrolled in the class.
• Once the waitlist is established, all students attempting to register for that class will be offered a spot on the waitlist instead of being enrolled in the class.
• In most cases, this issue is resolved by the auto-enroll process that runs each evening. The auto-enroll process assigns students on the waitlist to open seats in class.
• However, if students are not auto-enrolled due to a time conflict or some other issue, they will remain on the waitlist. Additional students attempting to enroll in that class will continue to be offered spots on the waitlist instead of being enrolled.
• For open classes with open seats and a waitlist capacity of zero:
• If a student clicks the “Wait list if class is full” box when registering for the class, the student will be told that the class is closed and will not be enrolled.  
• In those cases, students should delete the class from their shopping cart, uncheck the ‘Wait list if class is full’ box and attempt to enroll again. They will be enrolled if there are still open seats.

Colleges and departments may use the course enrollment status report to find out if students are being prevented from enrolling in open seats due to a waitlist. There is a workaround for classes affected by this issue. To implement the workaround, departments should:

• Lower the enrollment capacity for the class by the number of students on the waitlist. Note the names and student IDs of the students on the waitlist so they can be manually enrolled later on.
• Uncheck the “Auto enroll from wait list” box.

This will allow students to continue to enroll in the class despite there being a waitlist. Once the workaround is in place, departments will need to monitor the affected class. If the class fills up and students begin to add themselves to the waitlist again, the “Auto enroll from wait list” box should be re-checked so students can be assigned to seats if any students drop the class.

If you have questions about whether your classes are affected or need assistance implementing the workaround, please contact srhelp@umn.edu. Staff are working with central OIT on finding a solution to this issue.

Proposed changes to current FERPA language

The “discussion draft” of a new bill was recently released to Congress calling for a review and possible amendments to the current FERPA language. Essentially, the bill would clarify the definition of a student’s “educational record” and ban the use of such information for marketing or advertising. It would also impose new contracting requirements on states and local education agencies and allow for fines of up to $500,000 to be levied on educational service providers that improverly share student information. The American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO), along with members of the University of Minnesota and other educational associations, are providing feedback on the proposed changes. We do not anticipate that any changes will be approved through Congress this session, but we will keep you informed if we hear of any developments.

Payment plan options for students

Turning on the payment plan option for students is not as simple as it seems on the surface. There no switch that gets flipped on or off each term, and, like much in life, there are many processes and decisions that need to happen before making these options available to students.
So, how does it work?

First, the Board of Regents need to set and approve tuition rates, which are typically approved during their June meeting. However, this presumes that the Minnesota State Legislature has already determined the University's state allocation. The Regents can’t set tuition rates before this allocation is determined, because tuition rate increases (or freezes) are tied directly to legislative decisions.

After the rates are set it takes three to four weeks for Student Finance-Information Technology to set up tuition and fees in PeopleSoft and another week to test whether or not it's working correctly. Behind the scenes, the Office of Student Finance (OSF) implements multiple payment plans for students with the hope that eventually the best single-plan option can be selected. Once the PeopleSoft tuition and fees are verified, OSF can begin to run tuition calculations for students who have enrolled for the upcoming term. After the tuition calculations have run, the delivered version of PeopleSoft's payment plan can be 'turned on' allowing students to select and enroll in the payment plan​.

However, OSF wants to avoid unnecessarily assessing students the $20 enrollment fee if their financial aid would cover ​all of ​their tuition and fees. For that reason, it's important that the payment plan not be available for students until after​ the first major​ financial aid disbursement date. This is especially true this term, because this is the first time students aren’t automatically enrolled in the payment plan option and need to proactively enroll themselves. Aid is disbursed to students approximately ten days before the start of the semester, so the payment plan will become available in the very short window between disbursement and the start of the semester.

One Stop changing model to enhance student support efforts

One Stop is making additions to their service model in an effort to continue to meet the changing needs of students, parents, faculty and staff by providing additional community support to ensure student success. One Stop Counselors will be prepared to engage and interact with students concerning their financial lives and success, and issues concerning degree progress goals.

One Stop counselors have developed curriculum, advising standards, and learning outcomes for one-on-one financial wellness counseling sessions with students. These counseling sessions are designed to empower students to examine their financial lives, and realize the impact that financial education can have on student success measures, such as academic degree progress and timely graduation. All One Stop Counselors are now required to have their certification as a Personal Financial Manager.

Additionally, One Stop Counselors will work collaboratively with the UMN Student Degree Progress Team, collegiate staff, and faculty to engage current and former students on their degree progress goals by developing success plans that will assist the institution with increasing retention and graduation goals.

Tina Falkner named Office of Student Finance interim director

Tina Falkner has agreed to serve as interim director of the Office of Student Finance (OSF); Stacey Tidball will be stepping in as the interim director of Continuity and Compliance. It’s expected that these interim position will last for 3-5 months while ASR prepares and conducts a national search for a permanent OSF director.

First Financial Wellness 1:1 session held

Live Like a Student and One Stop Student Services are piloting 1:1 meetings with students to talk about financial wellness at the University of Minnesota. These sessions are designed around the needs of the specific student and can be requested through One Stop. Typical topics for these meetings include creating a spending plan, living like a student while in college, preparing for financial decisions post college life, making major purchases, credit scores, and more. These meetings are part of LLAS and One Stop's contribution to the RAoS initiative at the University of Minnesota.

Postbaccalaureate realignment proposal

The University of Minnesota is considering a realignment for supporting postbaccalaureate education. Generally the proposal works to align programs into either a traditional graduate education community or a professional degree program community. You can view the details of the proposed alternative structure on the UMN Academic Affairs and Provost website. Senior Vice Provost Karen Hanson is encouraging faculty and staff to send feedback on the proposal to provost@umn.edu.

After the Upgrade: Getting to Mail and Moodle through MyU

A new MyU is launching as part of the PeopleSoft Upgrade on April 20. It will be available at the same address as the current myU: myu.umn.edu. The new MyU is role-based, with a personalized interface based on what you do at the University. MyU brings together links and information to help faculty, students, and staff get business done at the U.

Will I still be able to access my University email account in MyU?

Yes! Just use the link in the upper right of the new MyU. Alternatively, you can always access your University email account at mail.umn.edu. You’ll need to log in with your Internet ID and password.

Can I still get to my Moodle course sites?

Yes! Look under “Key Links” in the new MyU. Alternatively, visit moodle.umn.edu. Then you'll see all the Moodle course sites you have access to in the Moodle Kiosk on the main page.

Questions? Email upgrade@umn.edu.

Managing advising committee members

Those who update advising committee members will need to be sure to check the “Include History” box on Manage Committees search page. If not, the system does not recognize previous rows and may produce an error message. The UPK documentation is updated to reflect this step.

MyU Tips

Many issues encountered in the new MyU are resolved with the following actions. Try them and share with others:

• Upgrade your browser. Use the most recently released version of your browser for the best experience.
• Clear your cache. Many common issues are caused by un-cleared cache.
• Disable pop-up blockers. 

Still having issues? Find help here.

Changes to outstanding degree requirements notices (“balance letters”)

Effective May 2015, you will see updated language and data in the “coursework - no grade” section of the outstanding degree requirements emails sent to students once their files are reviewed for degree completion. GSSP will no longer list missing grade information (i.e., individual course title and credit amount) for current term coursework. Rather, this section will reflect the following language:

You have courses on your Graduate Degree Plan (GDP) for which you have not yet earned a grade. This may be because we reviewed your file before grades were due, or because your grades have not yet been submitted. All courses on your GDP must be graded on or before the last working day of your intended graduation month. We will review your file at the end of the month and update your GDP with any newly graded courses at that time.

Action Required: Monitor your unofficial transcript to ensure that a grade is submitted. To request removal and/or addition of course(s) from your GDP, you may file a petition form available at http://policy.umn.edu/forms/otr/otr190.pdf to the Graduate Student Services Office (160 Williamson Hall) for approval. 

FERPA: Since the upgrade, where do I find a student’s FERPA suppression level?

The location of a student's suppression level has remained largely unchanged since the upgrade. When viewing an individual student's record in PeopleSoft, a blue window shade icon in the upper right-hand corner indicates that the student has some level of suppression. Click on the window shade icon to display a pop-up window with the student's level of suppression.

In Faculty Center, when you click on the class roster icon to display the roster, a related content window will open displaying all students in the class that have some level of suppression.

In Reporting Center, most roster-type reports display FERPA suppression level in the last column in the report.

Students can change their suppression level by visiting MyU: My Info and clicking on the pencil icon in the Directory Suppression section.

Upgrade update

Upgraded systems launched on April 20 as scheduled. A huge thank you to all staff that made this transition successful and smooth. The ASR Training Team and business analysts are receiving many inquiries and working through them with users from across system campuses. Help lines are receiving a higher-than-average number of service requests, and things are being worked through as quickly as possible. Your patience is appreciated during this time. Many inquiries are resolved by reminding people to upgrade their browser, clear their cache, and disable pop-up blockers. Please continue to contact your normal support line with any issues or questions.

Using the new final grade entry process

As the semester continues after the launch of the Upgrade, many upgraded systems will be used for the first time. For example, in the next few weeks faculty, instructors, and their proxies will use the new final grading process. As part of the Upgrade, the University’s custom developed grade entry applications were retired and are no longer available. Faculty, instructors, and their proxies will now enter grades by utilizing the MyU: Teaching tab. Here are some highlights of the change and some helpful tips for grade entry.

Please note: the information below is intended to complement what may have been sent from colleges or departments to their teaching faculty, including processes specific to their unit.

Verify access to grade rosters

Faculty, instructors, and their proxies should verify that they have access to all of their assigned grade rosters before the last day of instruction. To do this, access your Faculty Center in the MyU: Teaching tab and view the Grade Rosters for the classes you teach. When grade rosters are created (generally about twelve days before the last day of the term), those with access will see an icon that looks like a person inside a square next to the class in Faculty Center. Click that icon to view the roster. If you do not see the grade rosters you expect, please contact your department scheduler.


Class rosters and grade entry for courses owned by the School of Public Health are available only through the School of Public Health grading system. Faculty within the Medical School and the Law School typically do not access their grade rosters electronically and should contact their administrative support if they have questions.

Uploading grades directly from Moodle

Final grades entered in Moodle can be transferred directly into the grade roster within the Faculty Center. This guide to uploading gradebooks from Moodle to the final grade roster in PeopleSoft outlines the process. Those using this option should make sure that the final grade roster has been created prior to uploading from Moodle. It is important to note that once the grades have been transferred, they still must be reviewed and approved in Faculty Center.

New “NR” grade replacing grades that are left blank

Once the grading deadline has passed, a new grading mark, NR (Not Reported), will be given to students who are not assigned a grade by their instructor. The NR will be treated like a blank grade was in the previous system (e.g., zero grade points, zero credits).

Additional resources available on One Stop Faculty website

How-to guides on entering grades, making changes to grades, and more are available in the Grades section of the One Stop Faculty website. Grading due dates, frequently asked questions, and grading and transcript policies are also available.

Tech tips

• A good first step for those encountering difficulties is to clear their browser’s cache.
• Browser type and version can affect grade entry. Those having trouble should try updating their browser or using another one. 
• Grade entry will work on mobile browsers (e.g., phones, tablets). Some pages have been designed to respond to multiple screen sizes, and some have not. Non-responsive pages should still function, but may be less aesthetically pleasing and could present anomalies. 

How the class waitlist process will work after the Upgrade

The class waitlist process is undergoing some major process changes as a result of the Upgrade. We would like to provide some additional information and resources to guide you and your students through this transition.

Background

Currently, students usually find an alternate class, add themselves on the desired class waitlist if one exists, and wait for a spot to open up. If a seat becomes available, they would be invited to enroll in the class from the department offering the class. The invitation includes a permission number that allows them to register. With that in hand, they then have the opportunity to adjust their enrollment to avoid time conflicts before registering for the desired class.

What’s changing?

The new class waitlist process eliminates the invitation step and automatically enrolls students when seats open. Students will receive an email if they are successfully enrolled from the waitlist. However, this auto-enroll process will not complete if the student was added to the waitlist and is enrolled in another class that has a time overlap. Instead, they will receive a notification alerting them that there was a conflict. The student can then resolve the conflict by dropping the other class before the auto enroll process starts again.

Along with the auto-enroll class waitlist process, the University will begin using delivered functionality that allows students to have the system automatically drop them from a conflicting class if a seat becomes available for them. Rather than placing themselves to the waitlist from the “Add” function, they will use the “Swap” functionality in the enroll tab. This will place them on the waitlist (that can be prioritized by faculty or departments), but in a way that tells the system to drop them from the conflicting class if a seat becomes available for them in the desired class.

What’s the timeline?

• During the systems interruption (approximately April 10-20): Students will be unable to add or remove themselves from waitlists. An email will be sent the week of April 13 to Twin Cities students who are currently on a waitlist informing them that they will be unable to add or remove themselves from a waitlist during the system down time and what the process will be after the Upgrade. They will be directed to the how to guides on the One Stop website and to contact One Stop (or the Office of the Registrar in Crookston) with any questions. 
• After go-live (April 20): The new auto-enroll process will start on Friday, May 1 for the Twin Cities campus. Students on a waitlist approximately two days prior to this will receive an email stating that the process is about to start, and if they do not wish to be auto-enrolled, they need to remove themselves from the waitlist immediately.

Resources

For students

How to swap classes
How to future swap classes
How to enter a permission number
How to add yourself to a class waitlist

For staff and faculty

Waitlist and Auto-Enroll UPK

Clearing Cache and Cookies

Sometimes your colleagues will not be able to access the new system pages. The most common cause for this problem will be un-cleared cache. This means that the computer is storing outdated snapshots of former web pages, and they need to be cleared out so the new pages can load.

Many times the fix is as simple as hitting the “Refresh” button. But if that doesn’t work, you can clear cache for a specific browser, and clear cookies too, by following the steps outlined in the online resources below.

How to Clear Cache and Cookies in Firefox

http://it.umn.edu/how-clear-cache-cookies-firefox

How to Clear Cache and Cookies in Safari

http://it.umn.edu/how-clear-cache-cookies-in-safari

How to Clear Cache and Cookies in Internet Explorer

http://it.umn.edu/how-clear-cache-cookies-internet

How to Clear Cache and Cookies in Chrome

http://it.umn.edu/how-clear-cache-cookies-chrome

Scheduled outage for ECAS and PCAS

Due to the Upgrade, ECAS and and PCAS will be unavailable for viewing, submitting, or approving proposals from April 10 at 1:00 a.m. until Go Live, scheduled for April 20. During that time, the ECAS and PCAS websites will be redirected to a webpage explaining the outage. Proposals that are in process during the outage can be approved when the systems become available again.

Course information can be viewed as normal during this period.

FERPA: Are admissions files included as part of the education record?

The short answer is, yes. They contain personally identifiable information about the student and are maintained by the institution, so they are considered an education record. As such, if a student requests access to his or her admissions file and it hasn't been destroyed (following the University's retention policy) the student has the right to view the information. The one caveat to this is letters of recommendation the student has waived the rights to see, the waiver excludes those records from student review. If the information is still maintained and the student has requested to view it, the record cannot be destroyed at that point even if according to the retention policy it could have been.

Final Student Experience Preview session scheduled

The final Student Experience Preview session is scheduled for Friday, April 17 from 12-1 p.m. in Rapson Hall, room 58. The session will include demonstrations of class registration, bill payment, and viewing financial aid. Also covered will be how MyU and the One Stop website will work together after the upgraded systems launch. This session is created for those who support students (e.g., advisers, student services staff). No RSVP required.

Job Aids for the Upgrade

The training team has published User Productivity Kits (UPK) on several topics for the Upgrade. These UPK topics provide a tour of University of Minnesota PeopleSoft processes and can be accessed from the Help button in PeopleSoft 9.0, or at asr.umn.edu/upgradetraining. If you would like a printable job aid, use the “Print It” mode of a UPK.

Voice messages to the helpline now open ServiceNow tickets

To provide better service to our users, voice messages left on the Student Records Help Desk support line (621-625-2803) now trigger ServiceNow tickets to open for the Training and Support Team, just as emails sent to srhelp@umn.edu have been doing for the last few years. Staff are reminded that they need only leave a voice message or send an email, as doing both would open duplicate ServiceNow tickets.

Change to Prelim Oral Exam (0807) milestone reporting

As we continue to make improvements to student milestones, Graduate Student Services & Progress (GSSP) would like to make you aware of a milestone reporting change from the Graduate Education Student Report for Majors/Minors (G032) in UM Reports.

If a student passes their prelim oral exam with reservations, GSSP staff enter the Prelim Oral Exam (0807) milestone as “Pass with reservations,” which is then indicated in the UM Report as “P-R.” Instead of adding another milestone once the reservations are resolved, GSSP staff are changing the initial milestone to “Pass (P) - reservations removed.” This method is beneficial to the student, as they will only see one milestone on their record in the new MyU portal. However, it was noticed that after the milestone is changed to “Pass (P) - reservations removed,” there is no record indicating the student completed exam reservations in the UM Report; the record in the report is blank.

To see the student’s full 0807 milestone record, view in:
PeopleSoft by following Main Menu > Records and Enrollment > Enroll Students > Student Milestones
(Pre-PeopleSoft Upgrade): UM Reports > Graduate Education Student Report for Majors/Minors (G032) > click on the student name or ID
(Post-PeopleSoft Upgrade): MyU > Key Links > Reporting Center > Student Services > Student Records > Graduate Education Student Report for Majors/Minors

Due to the reporting changes addressed above, GSSP recommends referencing the Milestones page in PeopleSoft for the most current and complete milestone data. Please view this Milestone Tutorial (UPK) to view the full milestone changes that will occur from 8.9 to 9.0 PeopleSoft.
Any questions regarding this update can be directed to gssp@umn.edu.

Upgrade - GSSP process modifications

As you know, the PeopleSoft Upgrade cutover period has been established (starting April 10 with an anticipated April 20 go-live). The Graduate Student Services and Progress (GSSP) office is working to adjust processes to accommodate system downtime and reduce delays in students' degree progress.

We want to make you aware of a website dedicated to GSSP process modifications for the cutover period. As we will be taking our automated forms (i.e., workflows) offline prior to and during the cutover period, this website will serve as the place where students and staff can access interim forms should they need to complete processes during system downtime.

This information will also be shared with students in the March 23 issue of the Graduate and Professional Student Update (GPU). As always, we appreciate your patience and understanding.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at gssp@umn.edu.

The New MyU for Faculty

Take a look at new features and changes for faculty in the new MyU. These include streamlined access to teaching and advising information, consolidated grade entry, the Reporting Center, and MyU tabs for research and faculty career information, all available when the Upgrade goes live April 20th.

Learn more at http://upgrade.umn.edu/faculty/index.html

Video coming soon: "New MyU for Employees."

Changes to Parent/Guest Access to student accounts

The Upgrade will include a new Parent/Guest Access system. This new system will be easier to access, transactions will be easier for parents to complete, and One Stop counselors will have the same view as the user, making questions and issues easier to resolve.

The current system will be taken offline at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 8. When the Upgrade is complete (scheduled for April 20), the new Parent/Guest Access system will be available.

What’s changing?

There are two important changes for Parent/Guest Access:

• Students will share grade information by granting access to their unofficial transcript.
• Parent/Guest Access will be system-wide. That means if a student has attended more than one University of Minnesota campus, the access to the student record will include information from all campuses attended.

What do I need to do now?

• Students should review the access they currently have set up. This is the access that will be converted to the new Parent/Guest Access system during the Upgrade - with one exception:
• If you are a student who has provided access to grades but not holds, be aware that your parent/guest will not have access to grades after go-live. If you grant access to holds now, they will have access to your unofficial transcript after the Upgrade is complete. 
• If you are a student (or the parent of a student) who has initiated the Parent/Guest Access process, be sure it is completed before April 8 at 4:30 p.m. (if not, the student will need to start over in the new system).

What do I need to do when the Upgrade is complete?

• Students are encouraged to review their shared information settings. To do this, go to myu.umn.edu > My Info > Parent/Guest Access > Share My Information. 
• Parents should review and confirm their access. To do this, go to myu.umn.edu > Key Links > Parent/Guest Access.

Background

Parent/Guest Access must be granted by the student in order for a parent or guest to access the details or to view and make payments for the student’s account. Students can grant access (allowing parents/guests full access to view the student account and complete online billing and payment) or view-only access to things such as class schedule, financial aid, holds, and unofficial transcripts. No level of access allows the parent or guest to request an official transcript, register for classes, respond to the eFAAN, or update student personal information.

Resources

For students 

How to authorize access

For parents and guests 

How to complete Parent/Guest Access
How to view/pay your student’s bill (coming soon)
How to access your student’s record coming soon)

Changes to key student records reports

After the Upgrade a new, centralized MyU Reporting Center will be the hub for your student systems report needs. It will contain links to reports that are being carried forward from UM Reports, UM Analytics and PeopleSoft.  Read the Transitioning to UM Reports blog post to help you prepare for the new MyU Reporting Center.

What’s changing with key student record reports?

The Upgrade will change the appearance, functionality, and location of the tools and reports that you’ve become accustomed to accessing through UM Reports, UM Analytics or PeopleSoft 8.9. Some are being retired and others are being replaced by real-time data in PeopleSoft pages. Review the information below to prepare for changes to key student record reports.

Academic Record

• The UM Report - Academic Record will be replaced by PeopleSoft pages with real-time data that covers the same information. After the Upgrade, this information will be found through the new MyU → Click “Key Links” → select Reporting Center → Student Services → Student Records.
• To get to an assigned advisee’s Student Center page, where you can view and print “unofficial transcripts,” start in the new MyU → click Key Links tab → select Advisor Center → click on “View Student Details” next to an advisee’s name and ID → select “Transcript: View Unofficial” from the “Other Academics” drop-down menu.
• Any current staff member who has view access to PeopleSoft Student Records can access the PeopleSoft Student Services Center page, which contains the information replacing the UM Report - Academic Record.

Graduate Education Student Profile

• The Graduate Education Student Profile will be replaced by PeopleSoft pages with real-time data that covers the same information. 
• After the Upgrade, this information will be found through the new MyU → Click “Key Links” → select Reporting Center → Student Services → Student Records. This will include:
• General info
• Service indicators
• Addresses
• Transfer credit information
• Academics 

How to print an unofficial transcript

• Only advisors will be able to print an unofficial transcript through the advisee’s Student Center page in the Advisor Center. All other staff will need to navigate to the Request Transcript Report page in PeopleSoft.
• To view and print an “unofficial transcript” (i.e. the PDF version of an Academic Record report), inside an advisee’s Student Center page, under the Academics tab, click the drop-down menu and select “Transcript: View Unofficial” and click the double arrows to proceed. A prompt window will open, select “Request Unofficial Transcript” then view report. It will open as a printable PDF.

Course List and Class Rosters

• After the Upgrade, the Class List report will be replaced by a PeopleSoft page with real-time data. Staff members will access this information through the new MyU → Click “Key Links” → select Reporting Center → Student Services → Enrollment.
• For faculty, instructors, and their assigned proxies, the class list and roster information should be accessed through the Teaching tab of the new MyU. This opens a list of courses, which you can click through to get to the Faculty Center and access class rosters (through the class roster icon, looks like a group of people, or tab). This will be the only way to access class roster photos (if available).
• This information can be downloaded to Excel by clicking on the table icon with the red arrow, or printed by clicking the “Printer Friendly Version” link at the bottom of the page. 
• To learn more about the Faculty Center’s my schedule, class roster and grade roster pages, view the PeopleSoft Faculty Center guide.

Probation/Suspension

• The Probation/Suspension and Probation Holds reports will be replaced by a PeopleSoft page with real-time data.
• After the Upgrade, this information will be found through the new MyU → Click “Key Links” → select Reporting Center → Student Services → Student Records. 
• Additionally, students will have the ability to see if they are in good academic standing, values will include:
• Good - Good Standing
• PRB1 - Probation Level 1
• PRB2 - Probation Level 2 (Can have multiple terms Prob Level 2) 
• DISM - Dismissal/Suspension
• PRAD - Probation after dismissal/suspension
• PRBH - History of Probation

Leave of Absence

The Leave of Absence report is being retired. This information can be provided to you upon request. Please contact Ingrid Nuttall with questions or concerns.

The New MyU for Students

Take a peek at how you’ll register, view financial aid, pay bills and more in the new MyU, available when the Upgrade goes live at the end of April 2015.

 

Learn more at upgrade.umn.edu/student.

Videos coming soon: "New MyU for Faculty" and "New MyU for Employees."

Faculty Go-To Spotlight: Lisa Hubinger

This spotlight is on Faculty Go-To Advance Team member Lisa Hubinger, Graduate Program Coordinator for the College of Veterinary Medicine. Advance Team members are unit-specific people who have volunteered to receive advance materials and information to help their colleagues during The Upgrade transition.

Why did you volunteer to be an advance team member?
I realized early on that I better pay a lot of attention to The Upgrade. In the College of Veterinary Medicine, all graduate students are handled out of our office, so I became very aware of how much the systems changes will impact our staff, students and faculty.

How are you preparing?
I read everything. I participate in meetings. I have taken all the training and watched all the sneak peek videos, which are great. They are short and informative. I really like that the information is all online so I can go back to it whenever I need.

What are some of the biggest challenges?
There are several. Faculty are always busy, so many of them don’t have time to fully prepare in advance. This is why it’s good that educational information is available just-in-time and online. That’s also why it’s good to have Advance Team members ready to provide live help.

Another challenge is that we don’t really know exactly what the upgraded systems will be like until they go live. There’s only so much planning we can do, so let’s just get The Upgrade implemented!

Finally, most people don’t really like change, so we will probably hear about that. For me, I just want to be knowledgeable, helpful and provide a sense of calm to people who have trouble adjusting to change. We will get through this by working together!

FERPA: Do you need to be concerned about student data on copiers?

Most modern copiers now store images of what's been copied in the copier's hard drive. So, if your department makes copies of private student data (e.g., transcripts, degree audits, advising note, etc.) the copier in your office, likely has retained this information. The process of retaining a copy on the hard drive really isn't a problem until it comes time to replace the copier. If a copier is being replaced, you should completely wipe the hard drive before selling, giving away, recycling, or returning it. The Office of Information Technology has some resources to assist with this task http://it.umn.edu/technology-recycling.

Providing In-Progress Notifications on Academic Performance (formerly Mid-Term Alerts)

The policy formerly known as "Providing Mid-Term Alerts on Academic Performance" underwent comprehensive review earlier this winter. As part of the comprehensive review process, the policy was re-named to “Providing In-Progress Notifications on Academic Performance” to make it more clear that students can be notified of good performance as well as poor (the old name with the word “alert” seemed to imply that the system could only be used to send notification if a student was doing poorly).

Since the new process will use delivered PeopleSoft functionality (which is tied to grade roster generation), the policy was also revised to remove references to the specific weeks in the semester when the notifications were to be sent. The language now reflects that these types of notifications are to be sent to students at such a point in the semester when students can either improve their academic performance or withdraw from the course by the withdrawal deadline. Faculty are also now encouraged to send notifications to all students in all classes.

One Stop closed Tuesday, March 17

One Stop Student Services will be closed for service on March 17 (the Tuesday of spring break) for Upgrade related training. This includes the One Stop Student Services Centers in 333 Science Teaching & Student Services (STSS), 130 West Bank Skyway, and 130 Coffey Hall. Walk-in, phone, and email service will not be available during this time; the Helping U desk in STSS will stay open.

One Stop Student Services will re-open at 8 a.m. Wednesday, March 18. Please pass this information along as necessary to the staff in your unit.

One Stop hours for registration

In order to accommodate and better serve students during the condensed registration appointment times, One Stop Student Services is adding weekend and extending weekday phone line hours. One Stop counselors will be available via phone Monday-Saturday, 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m., from March 23-April 4.

Staff will still be available in person Monday-Friday during normal walk-in hours. Contact information can be found on the One Stop website.

If you have any questions regarding this announcement,  please contact Julie Selander at goode021@umn.edu.

Upcoming GSSP deadlines prior to Upgrade

As you know, the PeopleSoft Upgrade cutover period has been established (starting April 10 scheduled to Go Live on April 20) and the Graduate Student Services and Progress (GSSP) office is working to adjust workflows and processes to accommodate system downtime and reduce delays in students' degree progress. As a result, we wanted to make you aware of two upcoming dates that are particularly important for students planning to defend and/or graduate this spring.

• March 13, 2015 - deadline for students to submit their completed and signed Graduate Degree Plan to GSSP (160 Williamson Hall or gssp@umn.edu) 
• March 20, 2015 - deadline for students to submit any examination committee assignments via the online workflows

Please encourage your students to complete these items before their respective dates so they can be processed in a timely manner to the cutover as many systems will be inaccessible or read only. The GSSP office is also planning to take down all workflows in advance of the cutover and will continue to provide more information related to system and process changes in the coming month.

Thank you for understanding and please contact GSSP at gssp@umn.edu with any questions.

Frequently Asked Questions: Impacts of the Upgrade for Student systems

The Student workstream is maintaining an FAQ on the impacts of the Upgrade on Student systems. It covers questions related to registration, student account billing, financial aid, admissions, and more.

Some examples:

• When will the registration web application be turned off? 
• Will students be able to get copies of their transcripts? 
• When is the last time students can pay tuition and fees online? 
• Can students get/print copies of their 1098-T form during the cutover period? 
• When is the last disbursement date [for financial aid]? 
• How will the orientation sign-up process be affected by the cutover? 
• Will students still be admitted during the cutover? 
• When is the last time that staff can add or remove service indicators?

Read the entire FAQ.

Information is being updated with more details as they are known. Questions and answers will be added as needed. If you have a question not answered by the FAQ, send an email to upgrade@umn.edu. 

Changes to class registration dates

To accommodate the planned Upgrade cutover and Go Live periods in April, class registration timing is changing. Most registration periods will be held earlier than previously published (as noted below) to ensure students can successfully register for May, summer, and fall terms.

May/Summer	Fall
Crookston 3/23-4/2 queued registration 4/24 open enrollment Duluth 3/2 Morris 3/18 Rochester 3/9 Twin Cities 3/9 for degree-seeking students 5/1 open enrollment	Crookston 3/23-4/2 queued registration 4/24 open enrollment Duluth 3/16 Medicine & Pharmacy students 3/23-4/3 queued registration 4/23 open enrollment Morris 3/30-4/2 queued registration 4/23 open enrollment Rochester 3/23-4/4 queued registration (including evenings & weekends) 5/1 open enrollment Twin Cities 3/23-4/4 queued registration (including evenings & weekends) 5/1 open enrollment

There will also be a change to how the registration queue will be created:

• Stages will be defined based only on cumulative credit total (completed and in-progress credits) only. 
• Stage definition will differ by campus. Details will be published on respective campus websites soon. 
• Students will then be randomized within those stages.

This is how the queue will be created once the Upgrade is complete, but due to the positive feedback received regarding this change, we were able to implement it now. For Twin Cities and Rochester students only, registration appointment times will extend into the evenings and weekends to accommodate a shortened timeframe.

Due to the random assignment of registration appointments to students within each defined stage, previously available tables of appointment times by student name will not be published. Students will be able to look up their registration appointment time using the “Your registration time” application for their campus.

Undergraduate students should expect an email with their registration appointment time approximately two weeks prior to the start of queued registration on their campus. There will also be additional communications to students alerting them to these changes starting as early as February 9.